Iuno
A name which contains the same root div, “to
shine,” as the name
Iupiter (q.v.). As
Iupiter was the king of heaven and of the gods, so Iuno was, in the Roman mythology, the queen
of heaven, or the female Iupiter. She was worshipped as the queen of heaven, from early times,
with the surname of Regīna. At a later period her worship
was solemnly transferred from Veii to Rome, where a sanctuary was dedicated to her on the
Aventine. As Iupiter was the protector of the male sex, so Iuno watched over women,
accompanying every woman through life, from the moment of birth to that of death. Hence she
bore the special surnames of Virginālis and
Matrōna, as well as the general ones of Opigĕna and
Sospĭta, and under the last-mentioned name she was worshipped at Lanuvium.
On their birthday women offered sacrifices to Iuno surnamed Natālis, just as men sacrificed to their
genius natalis.
The great festival, celebrated by all the women, in honour of Iuno, was called Matronalia, and
took place on the 1st of March. Her protection of women, and especially her power of making
them fruitful, is further alluded to in the festival Populifugia (q. v.), as well as in the
surname of Febrūlis, Februāta,
Febrūta, or Februālis. Iuno was further,
like Saturn, the guardian of the finances, and under the name of
Monēta she had a temple on the Capitoline Hill, which contained
the mint. The most important period in a woman's life is that of her marriage, and Iuno was
therefore believed especially to preside over marriage. Hence she was called Iuga or Iugālis, and had a variety
of other names, such as
Pronŭba, Cinxia,
Lucīna, etc. The month of June, which is
said to have been originally called Iunonius, was considered to be the most favourable period
for marrying. Women in childbed invoked Iuno Lucina to help them, and newly-born children were
likewise under her protection; hence she was sometimes confounded with the Greek Artemis or
Ilithyia. In Etruria she was worshipped under the name of Cupra. She
was also worshipped at Falerii, Lanuvium, Aricia, Tibur, Praenesté, and other
places. In the representations of the Roman Iuno that have come down to us, the type of the
Greek Heré is commonly adopted. See
Heré.
